Business View Magazine | August 2019

218 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 In addition to hosting the State Fair, which takes place for 11 days every August, O’Leary reports that the Fair Park is active nearly 48 weeks of the year. “We have a number of meeting and conference facilities,” she explains. “Our flagship facility is our Exposition Center, which is 200,000 square feet, built in 2002. We also have a state-of-the-art youth center that’s approximately 5,000 square feet, which houses youth exhibitors during State Fair and can be rented for events year-round. We have the Wisconsin Products Pavilion that, during the Fair, is home to all of the commodity groups; during the non-fair season, it’s a 32,000-sq.-ft. pavilion that hosts many different types of events. We rent our facilities to a number of local and regional consumer trade shows, and we are also home to the largest sports show in Milwaukee.” During those non-Fair times, O’Leary says that the Fair Park actively competes with nearby venues for business. There are large exposition centers in Waukesha, some 15 miles to the west, and Franklin, some 25 miles south. Some of Milwaukee’s larger hotels also have convention and meeting spaces. “So it’s a very, very competitive market, to say the least,” she opines. That being said, she believes that the Fair Park has several advantages. “We’re about seven-and-a-half miles outside of downtown Milwaukee, with the convenience of being located right off I-94 and have ample parking. So, wherever you’re coming